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UNITED STATES P ATENT OFFICE.,

MIL() PECK, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

DROP-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,548, dated November 25, 1851.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, MrLo Prion, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement on the Drop-Press used for Forming and Raising Figures, Devices, &c., in Sheet Met-als; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description.

I build my drop pressesin many respects similar to others in regard to their general construction, having a rheavy bed or anvil asusual, the lower die set on the horizontal face of this bed, movable and adjustable by puppets and setting screws on four sides. The upright ways, between which the drop or ram rises and falls, are also set on, or mortised into the face of the bed about half an inch or more, so that they can only move a little to and from the center of the bed. A screw-stem is made fast to the outer edge of each way, which stems pass through two opposite studs or strong horns, which are solid parts of the bed, and by double nuts on the stems are adjusted, moved, or bound fast, and thus move or bind the lower ends of the ways. Thev upper ends of these ways are generally made fast to timbers framed or fastened to the walls or upper floor of the building, and when once set right, do not need any such nice adjustment as is required for t-he lower ends. Between the ways, the drop or ram acts, and it has two projections on each of its opposite sides, which have recesses cut in them well fitted to the inward edges of the ways, which should be V edges or triangular formed, well jointed straight and t-rue. In the lower end of the drop, the upper die is made fast. The lower die, being movable, is adjusted and set to meet and match it.

On the upper end of the drop is a crown, to which a leather strap is attached, and its other or upper end attached to the wrist of a crank, and in my machine the drop is raised by the sweep, this crank, and its sweep is made alterable so as to raise the drop a greater or less distance, at discretion; which is further described and explained hereinafter indicated by double holes in the crank sweep in Fig. But the common mode of raising the ram has been t-o wind a rope around a loose pulley or barrel, clutched to a fast one and when the rope was wound, and the drop raised, and in many cases latched up, the clutch was loosened and the drop prepared for a stroke and unlatched in various ways to give it, and when given the lifting rope was unwound suddenly, and whirling back the loose pulley, or barrel on which it had been wound, with violent rapidity, and when the loose pulley was again attached to the fast one, and the slack rope wound up, the first tendency to lift the drop was too sudden for beginning motion of a heavy body, and generally liable to loss of power, and to overstrain, break, or injure the machinery. The nature of the movement given by a crank is very different and much better adapted to lift the drop, as herein combined and applied.

To enable others skilled in the art to build and use my improved drop press I will more particularly describe the parts, operations and improvements thereof.

In the drawings hereto annexed and forming a part of this description, Figure l is a front elevation of a stamping, or drop press, in which A, represents a heavy bed or anvil, and ct, a, the two strong arms, or horns which form a part of it. B, represents the lower die on the face of the bed. N, N, two, of the four puppets, through which screws pass to set the die and bind it in its place. o, 0, two, of the four screws which set and bind the die. C, C, two upright ways between which the drop, or ram acts. m, m, show screwstems made fast in the outer edges of the ways and passing through the strong arms or horns a, a, of the bed having double nuts on each, by which to adjust and hold the bottom ends of the ways. R, represents the ram, with the upper die D, in it. S, the strap which is attached to the crown of the drop, and to the wrist of the crank E, by which the drop is lifted, and at the instant the drop strikes, the crank is swiftly passing its lowestdead center, and at that moment bends the strap across a cylindrical belt-guide. s s, partly shown at s s, by which the slack of the strap is instantly taken up, the reaction of the drop is caught, and it continues rising, slowly just after the rebound, and with accelerated speed to its half-lift, when the speed diminishes up to its resting and locking point.

Fig. 2 is a view of the right hand side of the top frame Y, and the ratchet wheel H, and ratchet sweep G, and dog el, with main wheel, &c., as described in Fig. l.

In Fig. l, X, represents the crank-shaft, (about 4 or 5 feet long in a large machine) &c. as before.

on which are two sweeps besides the crank, all made fastto it, and also the hub K, which runs loose on this crank-shaft and has I, the main driving gear, or pulley on it. Il, shows a thick strong ratchet-wheel, also fastened to hub K. F, shows the locking sweep, fastened to the crank-shaft, by which the drop or ram is secured in its highest position (or a very little past it) until by unlocking it is permitted to fall. Gr, represents the ratchet-sweep, which is fastened to crank shaft, and carries on it the ratchet dog (ZV-with its spring t9,-this dog cannot take hold of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel at any time except when t-he drop is down, and is to be lifted, or raised again. It is rendered impossible that the dog should catch the ratchet wheel while the drop is falling, or at any improper time, and this is secured by the guard-ring u, partly shown in Figs. l and 2, and in separate section at u, in Fig. 5. The outer circle of this section of a ring is a little longer than the ratchet wheel, and holds the dog above its teeth and the ring is made stationary and fastened to the frame. This guarding extends nearly half around the ratchet-wheel (besides a jointed part extending still farther, which is sometimes used, as explained after) and as the ratchet and main wheel is moving constantly, and whenever the drop falls the sweep G, falls also, carrying the dog with it beyond the end of the guard-ring, and'then the dog catches into the moving ratchet wheel and turns the crank-shaft with all its sweeps about half round, and then the dog is tripped out of the ratchet notches by meeting the other end of the section of the guard-ring, and lodging and resting upon it until the drop is again let fall, to carry the dog past the ring, that it may catch again, raising the drop There is a jointed section or segment, added to the guard-ring for occasional use, seen in Fig. 5 extending from z', to z', and marked lw, and is shown as improper circle with u. l/Vhen set in this position, the falling of the drop would not carry the ratchet sweep far enough to carry the dog past the end of'u, and fw, and of course the ratchet teeth could not catch the dog and the drop would remain down and at rest, which is sometimes desirable for fitting and adjust-ing dies, &c., but by bending the segment fw, inward from true circle,the dog can catch the ratchet wheel and act as before described. G, in Fig. 4, also shows the ratchet sweep with its dog and spring on larger scale.

P, seen in Fig. l and in sec-tion Fig. 3, is a spring to hold latch-hook L, to its place in the lock, and to raise the treadle T. F, the locking sweep on the crank shaft, is shown in place in Fig. l, and is shown more plainly in section in Fig. 3 with the parts of the lock, and I will now explain their operation.

The position in which they are represented is that4 of the drop raised and locked and ready to be tripped for a stroke; when so tripped by the treadle T, the hook or latch L, releases the sweep, and it turns quickly, with the crank-shaft, about half round by -the fall of the drop, and then the remaining half round by connection with the ratchetwheel and dog, and as soon as it has performed its whole revolution it is locked at the same time that the dog is thrown out of the ratchet wheel by meeting the end of the guard ring as described; but before it locks, the sweep passes over the spring e, and presses it down, and strikes the hook L, and carries it a little forward, till the spring e, snaps up behind the sweep and locks it between the hook or latch L, and the end spring of e. To the end of hook L, is jointed Z, and acts by a screw nut on its end against a spring V, in front of the machine, in Fig. 1, and the end of it is seen in section Fig. 3, at V.

Y, Y, &c., -represent the timbers of the top frame. Y, in Fig. 1 shows the end of the left hand timber in place, and Y, in Fig. 3, shows the inner side of the same with the lock on it, and in all the sections the same letters indicate the same or similar parts.

'Fig 6 is only a bisection of main or moving (gear or pulley as may be) with its hub K, and ratchet-wheel H, as running loose on the crank shaft, except when connected by the dog for raising the ram.

I do not generally need, nor use in practice, the lower parts of the frame, as seen in the drawing Fig. 1, but the top frame, or its equivalent, I attach to the timbers or walls of the building, variously arranged according to circumstances, only so that they are fully strong and firm enough to sustain t-he machine properly.

I do not claim any particular improvement in the bed, or puppets, or mode of adjusting and holding the die; nor in the upright ways, and manner of securing their lower ends, nor the drop or ram asacting between them, nor in lifting or raising the drop by the coiling or winding up of a rope, or similar devices which have been commonly used before for stamping presses for metals. Neither do I claim any alternate motion of winding and unwinding the lifting strap or rope on circular or cylindric especially When the weight of the ram was great. And I ought to remark that in my improvement, as before described, when the drop, or ram, is light, and its strokes given in quick succession, the bending of the lifting strap over what I call the belt-guide, may be dispensed With; because the crank which lifts the ram through the medium of the strap passes its lowest dead point and begins to ascend soon enough to take up the stroke and catch the rebound and prevent a second stroke, but when the ram is heavy, or the strokes given thereby are in slow succession (which are usual concomitants), then the sudden bending of the lifting-strap to take up the slack and catch the rebound quicker than the crank would do it, becomes Y a useful device, in whatever common way it may be performed, and I consider that which I have described as a neat and convenient one.

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The general arrangement and combination of the crank and shaft with its sweeps, moving always in the same direction with the moving gear or pulley and the ratchet-wheel joined together and running loose upon the shaft, constantly in the same direction, substantially as I combine them, for the purposes herein described.

2. I also claim the lock in combination with its sweep and springs and with the crank, to stop its motion not too abruptly and to hold it until it is unlocked by the hand or foot of the workman, substantially as described.

MILO PECK.

/Vitnesses:

JN0. G. NORTH, NELSON TULLER. 

